Why choose Singapore math?

[Quiver0f10]

I am planning on CLE math for my upcomigng first grader, but I am researching other options just in case this doesn't work for her. :)

 

I see many people here use Singapore and I am curious as to what made you choose this over another program. Do you switch to another program once they are in the upper grades? If so what? Also, I see a lot of people supplement when using Singapore and I wasn't sure why? Do you have to supplment? Oh, and US edition or standards edition?

 

Thanks!

[Pata]

We use Singapore because it teaches your child to think math. It teaches a whole new language in a way that they can grasp. It's been very successful here so far. We did supplement at first with Miquon because I had a hard time trusting that it would work, now I use Miquon to slow her down! I think that the only difference between the US and the standards edition is in measurements and money?? Hope that helps you.

[usetoschool]

We use Singapore because for us it is better than anything else I have seen at teaching the "why" of math and of helping understand what the numbers really mean, what they represent, not just looking at the numbers as a kind of picture on the paper and learning algorithms to manipulate those numbers. I also like that it keeps moving. The repetition in some math programs seems boring to us, and that is definately 'to us', for some kids that is a perfect way to learn.

 

We have added in various odds and ends because I wanted to make sure they understood the American way of doing and speaking about things, the terminology and some subjects, in order to do well on standardized tests. And some of the kids I teach are not mine and will go back to public school and I don't want them to be lost when they get back. I think Singapore is more advanced as far as comparing grade levels but I also think it is just different as far as scope and sequence.

 

The Standards Edition seems to address some of that difference. It doesn't take away or change, just adds some things that are covered in American math methods that generally aren't covered in Singapore, or are covered later, like graphing stuff. Also, I think I read somewhere on the Singapore Math sight that the Home Instructors Guides for the Standards Edition were better. We are gradually switching over the the Standards Edition and I kind of like the look of it more also, but that is just me.

[FO4UR]

I like SM mostly b/c it teaches math thinking, not simply memorizing facts or figuring out how to complete today's page in order to get done and go play. A child cannot do a SM page w/o comprehending what he's doing ime. (a problem I found with Horizons)

 

I prefer SM over MEP b/c the SM wb pages are simple/clean. MEP pages are kind of busy, and that can be distracting. We still use MEP some, but I cut up the page for ds so he only has to look at the problem at hand.

 

I prefer SM over Miquon (actually in addition to...but if I had to choose one) b/c the SM tb pages lend themselves to relaxed oral *teaching* - Miquon is more fun for my ds after he has seen the concept in SM.

 

You certainly don't *need* to supplement at all! I found Miquon first -I love it and won't let it go LOL:lol: MEP really adds some thinking problems I like.....and I use RS math games and alabacus for informal math games.

 

I want to stretch the books out - to make SURE it's CEMENTED into the core of his little brain -:cool: I trust that taking this time in early years will pay off down the road.

[Quiver0f10]

Thank you all !

[JustGin]

I am planning on CLE math for my upcomigng first grader, but I am researching other options just in case this doesn't work for her. :)

 

I see many people here use Singapore and I am curious as to what made you choose this over another program. Do you switch to another program once they are in the upper grades? If so what? Also, I see a lot of people supplement when using Singapore and I wasn't sure why? Do you have to supplment? Oh, and US edition or standards edition?

 

Thanks!

 

I used Singapore from Earlybird through level 4 with each of my children. When I was first starting out, I discovered Sonlight and at that time of the two math programs they recommended I liked what I read about SM the best. It was a great choice. SM gave my children a rock solid foundation in math because it doesn't just teach how to do math, it really, really helps them understand why and how numbers work.

Another bonus is the price and though it is a thorough program it is gently paced and not at all overwhelming to use.

I didn't suppliment excpet to use Cuisinarie rods with my middle dd. Unless you count the excellent cd-rom games available, those were a great re-inforcement.

I used the Standard Edition in the first levels and then switched to U.S for the last two levels but only because I wanted the Instructor guide and though it can be used with the standard, it's written to the US primarily.

 

The reason I switched was different for each child. My oldest wanted and needed more independence so I switched her to Teaching Textbooks pre-algebra after SM 4b and she has absolutly thrived. Math has continued to be her strongest subject. Middle daughter,who has some mild learning challenges, always needs to review and review and review concepts and so we got to point with SM where she was starting to flounder because although it does have review built in, it wasn't enough for her. So I switched her to Saxon and she too is thriving and loves her math. I wanted to keep ds, the youngest, in SM, but he is one of those kids who could learn math from a couple of sticks and rock and he wanted to try Saxon like sister, so I let him and he too has done well, though next year I'm going to switch him to Teaching Textbooks as well.

 

So there you have it, hope it helps. :)

[Tree House Academy]

I did Singapore with my kids this year and we enjoyed it. However, we are switching to CLE for next year because I need more teaching help and I felt like Singapore was not great at telling me when to teach things. For instance, the 1st grade manual mentioned "your child should have now memorized all of the addition facts to 10" and I really hadn't even started trying to teach him to memorize them! It really never communicated to me that this is what I needed to do, yet it expected me to do it.

 

However if CLE doesn't work for us, then I will definitely go back to Singapore. We liked it, but I am looking for a bit more teacher hand holding, I think. I have heard good things about CLE..not to mention, I got my materials yesterday, and I really like what I see.

[siloam]

I am late to the party but I see two reasons. 1. the "why" of math 2. problem solving.

 

Singapore, especially the upper level program NEM focus on making a child think and apply the principles vs. just plug in numbers to solve the problems.

 

If you just want the why I think Right Start actually does the best job of that. Singapore at times does make logical leaps, where RS will not. But RS leads the child through the logic and doesn't make them figure it out themselves, which is probably fine for the ages RS is designed for at this point. If you use Singpaore with the Intensive Practice books, Singapore will push the child to apply what they have learned in different ways.

 

The down side of that is it often requires more parent involvement. Here my kids do the work, give it to me, and if it is wrong, I tell them what they did right, and a hit as to how they need to shift their thinking to get the whole thing right. Sometimes it takes going back and forth several times for them to get it. Not the easy route, but I do like the results I am seeing. My dh as a joke asked my oldest how many nano seconds were in a min, and after telling her how long a nano second is (I can't remember right now), she actually gave him the right answer without having to even really think about it. :thumbup1:

 

Heather

[JustGin]

I did Singapore with my kids this year and we enjoyed it. However, we are switching to CLE for next year because I need more teaching help and I felt like Singapore was not great at telling me when to teach things. For instance, the 1st grade manual mentioned "your child should have now memorized all of the addition facts to 10" and I really hadn't even started trying to teach him to memorize them! It really never communicated to me that this is what I needed to do, yet it expected me to do it.

 

However if CLE doesn't work for us, then I will definitely go back to Singapore. We liked it, but I am looking for a bit more teacher hand holding, I think. I have heard good things about CLE..not to mention, I got my materials yesterday, and I really like what I see.

 

Sounds like you've made a good choice :) I do want to comment on the memorizing 10's facts though. I think the guide you're referring to is the Instructor Guide? While that is a great resource, it was written by another company to go with the Primary Maths, and so some of the "shoulds" may be taken with a grain of salt. The strength of SM in my opinion is that it so thoroughly teaches number sense, building number bonds, taking numbers apart, understanding the base 10 system (though they don't call it that) that students often don't need to drill and intentionally memorize these facts, they "get" them as they use them over and over. When people say SM doesn't have enough review, this is the piece they are often missing, that SM continually builds on the concepts and gets the student using them in the next concept. You might say the review is more internal than external which is why folks don't always see it. Does that make sense? I know none of my three needed any extra help with addition/subtraction facts, and only one needed any extra practice with multiplication.

 

I'm not trying to sell you on SM, just offering food for thought. :)

[Quiver0f10]

Thank you again!

[LadyAberlin]

I e-mailed the Art of Problem solving guy and he said that he recommends Singapore in elementary, because the homeschoolers that have come to him after completing up through Singapore 6b are very strong in math. I'm giving Singapore a try this yr with my kindy. We are using MUS too. We really like it, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to try Singapore.

[laylamcb]

We also just started Singapore in 1st. Mathematical thinking does not seem to come naturally to my dd, so we do a RS lesson first, and then we follow up with something corresponding in the Singapore text or workbook. At this point, I'm not sure that she'd be able to make the leap without the conceptual "leg up" of RS first.

 

And, um, neither would her non-mathy Mommy. ;)

 

Can I also throw in a plug for the Home Instructor's Guide? I debated whether to get this; how hard can first grade math be? I asked myself. It's not that it's hard--it's that Singapore approaches math in a way that I NEVER LEARNED. The HIG has been invaluable to me. Just sayin'.

[mcconnellboys]

I believe that Singapore does the best job of all the math programs I've ever looked at and/or used in teaching children to think mathematically. I would use it up through sixth grade, at least. The NEM programming that picks up after that used to not be parent friendly with regard to teaching it (unless you're a real math person). I'm hearing now that there are more helps, solutions manuals, etc. available which might change that. Another good alternative to bridge between elementary math and algebra would be something like Russian Math, by Perpendicular Press.

 

Grades 1-6 of Singapore didn't use to have a lot of supplemental work available for those kids who needed extra practice. There are now a number of extra workbooks out which can be used to supplement, so this is no longer the problem it once was. Or you could do drill work using some other programming, which is what I think lots of folks elect to do (hence the reason you see so many supplementing the Singapore work).

 

In grades 1-3, I don't think that Singapore covers enough of the "every day" sorts of math that a lot of other programs work on, such as time, money, calendar work, etc. However, this could easily be supplemented using something like McGraw Hill's Complete Book of Time and Money, buying your own blank calendar to work with over the course of the year (I think Rod and Staff has a nice one out, for instance), etc.

 

Some people add in Singapore's Challenging Word Problems to their regular math program in order to help their kids learn to think more mathematically. I guess this could work if the parents understand how to teach it - but if they've had no experience with the regular textbook/workbook programming from about second grade on, I'm not sure that they're going to understand the techniques for teaching the process. There may be some sort of instructional manual out now that I'm unaware of, as they keep adding things all the time. You might ask about that if you want to use Singapore as just a supplement.

 

So, anyway, do you have to supplement Singapore? No, but I would do more work per year than just what's in the textbooks/workbooks. So I would look at adding in at least one other Singapore workbook, such as Extra Practice, Challenging Word Problems, or whatever you think might be most beneficial to your child.

 

I think the U.S. edition is more readily available now and it will use our currency for money work and our measurement system, primarily (it does do some metric work). The other edition uses Singapore currency and primarily the metric system for measurement.

[Sandra in FL]

to skimming Dolciani's Pre-Algebra and now Dolciani's Algebra. I'm also using it with 4th grade ds and 1st grade ds.

 

Ditto all the previous posts about SM teaching the kids how to think mathematically. We supplement with Rod & Staff 1-3 to learn the math facts. Then we do Keys to Fractions, Decimals & Percents along with PM 4-5. We also do Intensive Practice workbooks half a year behind SM.

 

Wonderful program! I highly recommend it.

 

HTH,

Sandra

[Supertechmom]

:iagree: with everything about SM. The biggest difference on my end is that I don't teach it. I give it to my child, let him read aloud the chapter and then do the corresponding pages. But I don't teach it. He then turns in answers which I mark right or wrong and off he goes to correct. I've got one in NEM 1 now at 6th grade and another in 3b at 2nd grade and it's worked for both. I discovered that if I stepped out of the way and let them read and read and read and figure out the leaps SM was trying that they acutally did better. Sometimes they had to stand beside me a long time reading it and getting problem after problem on a dry earse board until the lightbulb blinked on but once it did, the jumps were easier. The biggest two I can think of were from adding/subtracting 3 digit numbers and multiply 3 digit numbers. SM shows you how to do one digit and a smattering of 2. They except you to then do any number from that point because you have learned the concept. Instead of teaching how to do 3 digit, I would make them go over and over 1 and 2 digit math until they made the jump. It does make it harder in one sense but both my mathy and non mathy kid have handled learning this way.

[Spy Car]

:lurk5:

[jenL]

Thank you for posting this question!

 

I'm currently doing Horizons 1 with ds as well as SM 1A (I bought it for "fun" math). He keeps telling me he only wants to do that math book now because it's "fun" although he's clearly learning. I was nervous to switch to just SM even though so many on here use it. I guess I'm just a traditionalist? :) Anyway, after reading these responses, it looks like I'll be re-selling the used Horizons 2 manuals that are on their way from one of the moms on here! Ds will be so excited! :lol:

[AngieW in Texas]

Singapore is a great program. But no program is going to work for all kids.

 

It has been a very good fit for all three of mine. My oldest is not math-intuitive, but is an out-of-the-box thinker and learns best from patterns rather than rules. My middle IS math-intuitive, a straight-line thinker, and learns best from rules. My youngest is more like my oldest and is also dyslexic.

 

My oldest and my middle both started Singapore with level 3A after finishing Miquon. My oldest did 2 or 3 of the Key to Fractions, Decimals, and Percents books because she needed more practice on those concepts. My middle didn't do the Key to books. The only supplement she did was some of the Challenging Word Problems books and those were just to slow to her down some.

 

My youngest could deal with the paper or the print in Miquon. She must have black print on white paper, and the paper has to be thick enough that she can't easily see through it. She did Singapore from level 1A. She hit a wall near the end of 3A, so we tried several other programs and floundered around for a full year. Then she asked to return to Singapore. She was actually ready for 4A at that point and has done very well since we returned to it almost one year ago. The only supplement she is using is Daily Math Practice from Evan-Moor. She must have daily systematic review to keep from losing what she's already learned. The reviews in Singapore aren't frequent enough for her.

 

We use the US Edition now, but it wasn't out yet when my oldest did Singapore (she did 3rd edition).

[Stephanie/MO]

Sinapore's Word Problem books. They are SUPER great and teach kids to think.

Stephanie

[Guest Bepette]

I've been looking to start my four-year-old in some sort of preparatory Math program. Which Singapore Math do you recommend starting with? And where do you purchase these? I see in Amazon lots of out of print.

 

Thanks!

[Spy Car]

I've been looking to start my four-year-old in some sort of preparatory Math program. Which Singapore Math do you recommend starting with? And where do you purchase these? I see in Amazon lots of out of print.

 

Thanks!

 

We have been using the Earlybird Standards Edition with my four year old this year. It's pretty gentle. Here is a link to the main US distributer.

 

http://www.singaporemath.com/Earlybird_Math_Standards_Ed_s/135.htm

 

I'm also quite partial to Miquon math and Cuisenaire Rods for little tikes.

 

Bill

[kalanamak]

Sounds like you've made a good choice :) I do want to comment on the memorizing 10's facts though. I think the guide you're referring to is the Instructor Guide? While that is a great resource, it was written by another company to go with the Primary Maths, and so some of the "shoulds" may be taken with a grain of salt.

 

And it is a quick read, so a previous run through would have warned you. Also, if the parent does the game ideas, it shows you that the instructor guide writer was putting a lot of emphasis on getting good at the facts.

 

I don't consider it "open and go" the first time you do it, but half an hour of rustling through the book at the get-go is fine.

 

Quiver, I'm sure you've had enough math experience to do it without the manual!

[Quiver0f10]

Thanks again everyone. You have given me lots to think about. :)